


Master Builder

by Mattecat



Category: The LEGO Movie (2014)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Age Changes, Alternate Universe - Human, Finn Business AU, Gen, Human Legos, I'm trans lego trash, Misgendering, Nonbinary Character(s), Nonbinary Emmet, Nonbinary Unikitty, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Swearing, Trans Character(s), Violence, darker than canon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-09-27
Updated: 2014-11-10
Packaged: 2018-02-19 00:19:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,367
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2367299
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mattecat/pseuds/Mattecat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Finn Business was eight and a half years old when his father took him to work with him. (humanized legos, AU where Finn is Lord Business' son)</p><p>additional character tags will be added as the story progresses</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> here we go again. the author known as catherpie/legoshipping/mattecat is writing another multichapter lego movie au fic. this one won't get super meta near the end I promise.
> 
> I've been stuck in a writing rut for ages and more lego fic is the only thing I can write for some reason? except it's not even the lego fic I want to write, it's this au nonsense. oh well.
> 
> some notes: I'm going to try to update this every sunday, including tomorrow since I have most of chapter 1 written already, but I might update more often or less often, it depends. I don't want to make any promises.

Finn Business was eight and a half years old when his father took him to work with him. He had insisted that Finn wear a suit that matched his own, and Finn kept picking at the tie as they stood in the elevator, watching the numbers change as they went up and up.

The top floor of Octan Tower was filled with robots working at computers or carrying heavy machinery or standing at doorways holding large, scary guns. Finn stayed very close to Presient Business' side, running a few steps to keep up with his father's long strides. Business glanced down at him every once in a while, but otherwise barely acknowledged he was there.

Finally, they arrived at a tall pair of double doors, standing much higher than Business stood, so high that Finn was having trouble wrapping his mind around why they needed to be that tall. Two of the scary robots with scary guns were standing there, and when Finn and his father approached them, they turned and stood at attention. "Lord Business, sir."

Finn looked up at Business in confusion. "I thought you were president," he said.

One of the robot's eyes fell on him, and they aimed their gun at him. Finn stiffened. "Sir," the robot said, "who is –"

Business' expression darkened. "You will _never_ point a gun at my son again," he said, his voice filled with barely-contained rage.

The robot lowered their weapon at once. "Yes, sir, my apologies, sir."

He nodded and looked down at where Finn clung to his shirt. "Finn, let go."

Finn hesitated, so his father pulled his shirt out of his grasp and stepped forward, Finn quickly following. Business pressed his hand against a plate, and after a brief hum, the doors opened. Once Business and Finn were inside, Business turned around and spoke to the second robot, the one that hadn't pointed a gun at Finn.

"Make an example of them."

The robot nodded, and the doors slammed shut.

* * *

"Dad, why did the robots call you Lord?"

Business didn't answer, just continued walking. They were alone now, but Finn still felt uneasy in the large, empty room, and that made him stay close to his father's side. On either side of them, tall pillars held a collection of strange objects that Finn couldn't keep his eyes off. A beige-colored cloak that looked like human skin. A long staff covered with elaborate designs, white fleece tipping both ends. A bronze disc with sharp edges. "Dad," he said.

"I heard you the first time, Finn."

"No, Dad, I was gonna – what are these?"

He pointed at one of the artifacts, a dark gray rectangular block. It looked innocent enough, but Business followed his gaze and said sharply, "Don't touch that. It will _literally_ kill you."

Finn yanked his arm back.

"Most of the things in here can kill you, so don't touch anything." Business paused. "Well, no, that's not true. There's only a handful of relics that will actually kill you if you touch them, and a good amount can't kill you at all. As far as we know. Still, don't touch any of them. You might get your fingerprints on them."

"Okay." Finn didn't even want to look at the objects now, in case that could kill him, too. "What are they?"

"This, Finn, is my relic collection." Business gestured at the room around them. "Nobody knows where this stuff comes from. We're not even sure what all of them do! It's also my office. Pretty neat, huh?"

"Yeah."

Business smiled and walked over to a large desk that Finn hadn't noticed in the room before. "Here," he said, pulling out a second chair. "You can sit here while I do my work."

Finn sat down and looked at all the papers spread over the desk. "What kind of work do you do, Dad?" It had to be something cool, if the robots called him _lord_.

"Right now, it's just a lot of paperwork. Lots and _lots_ of paperwork." Business picked up the closest bunch of papers and sighed. "I let things go after taking care of you and your sister all weekend, and now I'm paying for it. Oh well. Nothing to do but to do it."

With that, he put down the papers, took a pen, and started writing.

Finn watched him for a while until his mind started to wander and he looked around the room and kicked his feet in the chair. He hadn't thought of bringing anything with him – he thought his father's job would be more entertaining than this. He sighed. Guess being president was a lot more boring than it sounded.

After the fourth loud sigh, Business looked over at him. "Could you stop that?"

"Sorry. I'm just bored."

"Of course you are. Alright, here." He pulled open a drawer and handed a Rubik's cube to him. "You remember what these are, right? You get all the colors on their own side."

Finn frowned. "I can't do them, though."

"That's alright, I can't do them either. It'll give you something to do with your hands, though." Business smiled and poked his forehead. "Might make you smarter, too."

"I'm already smart." Finn pouted, but he took the Rubik's cube and started fiddling with it. Business went back to his work.

It didn't take long for Finn to start getting frustrated. Every time he thought he was getting close to having one side complete, he had to turn it in a way that messed it all up. There had to be an easier way to do this.

Turning the top row of squares at an angle, he picked at one of the blocks that made up the cube. To his surprise, it came off easily. Finn stared at it for a moment, then tried to put it back. It popped right back into place.

Business sorted through his papers, moving piles around, without paying much attention to Finn. Eventually, once he was done with one stack, he glanced at him, then looked back to the next stack – only to start and stare back at Finn. "Are you taking apart my Rubik's cube?"

Finn froze, caught in the act with the blocks of the cube littered on the desk, only the six on the central axis remaining. Business stared at him in disbelief.

"I'm sorry!" Finn cried. "I can fix it!"

"You –" Business shook his head. "Alright. Fix it. Put it back together, just let me watch."

His hands shaking, Finn picked up the blocks and put them back on the axis, one by one, until the cube was complete, with all the colors on their own side. Business took it from him, examined it, turning a few rows, then put it back down on the desk.

"Okay," he said. "Now – can you take apart this stapler?"

He put the stapler in front of Finn, who stared at it.

"What?" he said.

"The stapler. Take apart the stapler. You can do it, right?"

"I…" Finn shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "I don't know…"

"Try it," Business insisted. "It's fine if you can't. Just try."

Finn hesitated. Business waited. Finally, Finn reached out and took the stapler. He flipped it open and took out the staples, then paused. "Dad, I don't think –"

"Finn, I know this is a little strange, but it's really important that you try to take apart the stapler."

"But Dad, I don't think it's possible – look!" Finn tried to show his father the inside of the stapler, where the metal inner workings were attached to the plastic shell, but Business shook his head.

"You haven't even tried yet! Just try, and I'll stop, alright?"

Finn scrunched up his face, but relented. He stuck his fingers between the metal and the plastic, trying to pry the metal out of its shell – and it came out almost immediately. Finn pulled them apart, his eyes wide with surprise, holding the metal inner workings in one hand and the plastic shell in the other.

"Okay." Business took the two pieces away from him and put them on the desk. "Don't bother putting it back together, I'll just buy a new stapler. Wait one second…"

His father's voice was strained, and his hands were trembling as he pulled open a drawer and dug around inside for a moment. Finn looked at his own, shaking hands. Had he done something wrong?

"This eraser. Try to change the eraser."

Business pressed the eraser into Finn's hands.

"Dad, I don't understand –"

"Change the eraser," Business repeated in a shaky voice. "Just – it's shape. Change it's shape. Try to manipulate it and change it's shape. I can't explain it, I've seen other people do it, but I can't explain it. It's fine if you can't, just – I need you to try."

Finn looked down at the eraser and, wordlessly, pressed his fingers into it. It was solid. For a moment, he was relieved that he couldn't do it, that he couldn't do whatever was making his father sound so _afraid_ –

– then he was feeling the eraser in a different way. It was as if a second sense of touch was overlaid over his first sense of touch – he could feel the eraser as it sat in his hand, and he could feel the matter of the eraser, waiting to be molded and changed –

Finn reflexively dug his fingers into the eraser. The rubber squished beneath his touch. That jolted Finn out of his state, and the second feeling vanished and the eraser became solid again.

Except now his fingerprints were embedded in it.

Finn looked up at his father, hoping for reassurance, an explanation of what had just happened, only to see Business gripping the armrest of his chair so hard his knuckles were white, his face pale.

"My God," he said. "You're a Master Builder."


	2. Episode 1, Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> what's that, you say? what does episode one mean? you'll find out once episode 2 starts [pic of good cop winking]
> 
> so as you can tell by my newly added tags, I am trans lego trash and I am putting my trans headcanons in this fic. mainly nonbinary emmet and nonbinary unikitty. so if that turns you off from the fic, sorry! I'm just super attached to my trans headcanons bc they make me feel better about being trans.
> 
> on that note, there is some misgendering in this chapter. for the most part humanized lego world is significantly less transphobic than the real world, but misgendering still exists, so I've got to warn for that.
> 
> also, if I'm doing anything harmful/problematic in my writing, please tell me and I will correct it. I don't want to hurt anyone with my writing!
> 
> any other notes? I don't think so. I'm trying to be less self-deprecating about my writing in this fic so I've got less to talk about haha 8);

**8 1/2 YEARS LATER**

"My name is Finn Business," the boy said.

The whole class' attention was fixated on him, the short white boy with a short mop of curly dark hair, standing stiffly at the front of the classroom. Even Emmet was able to forget for a moment their mother's stinging words that morning to focus their attention on the new student.

To Finn's left, the rest of the students that had yet to give their introductions stood, craning their heads to look around each other. The entire class was new, technically, since it was the start of a new school year, but Finn was different – Finn Business was the son of the the Octan Corporation's president, the largest and most famous company in Bricksburg, and he was right there in their high school!

After a few moments of silence passed, Finn standing there with his mouth clamped shut, the teacher must have realized he wasn't going to say any more. "Thank you, Finn," she said. "You may take a seat."

Finn nodded and quickly moved to a seat in the front row corner.

The teacher squinted through her glasses at the paper she held. "Gilligan Cop?"

The next student stepped forward, a black boy with short-cropped hair and thick, round glasses. "I'm Gilligan!" he said brightly. "It's nice to meet you!"

Without another word, and without waiting for the teacher to dismiss him, he flashed a smile at the class and took the seat next to Finn. Finn glanced at him, but didn't say anything. Maybe they knew each other? The class was already murmuring.

One by one, the rest of the students introduced themselves. Gail Murray, a smiling girl with ruddy skin and freckles dotted across her face. Eric Pacheco, a brown-skinned boy with messy black hair and a wide grin. Larry Barista, who arrived late at the very end of the introductions, clutching a cup of coffee and earning a sharp remark from the teacher. Others, who spread out and slowly filled the classroom, until only a few empty seats remained – the most notable being next to Gilligan and Finn. The class stared at them, whispering to each other while the teacher gave the class' introduction – until Gilligan turned around and glared at them, his expression completely different from the smiling boy who had introduced himself. They stopped staring after that, or at least hid it better.

Emmet focused on their work, and tried not to let their mind wander.

* * *

Emmet saw Finn and Gilligan in a few of their other classes, always sitting together. None of the other teachers had the class introduce themselves, but everyone knew who FInn was, anyway.

Soon, they all knew who Gilligan was, too; from overhearing other's conversations, Emmet learned that Gilligan was the son of two members of President Business' own, personal police force, and he and Finn had grown up together. He also had a brother, apparently, but none of the students had seen him, and whether or not he actually existed was up for debate.

Finn and Gilligan themselves barely interacted with the others. Eric bravely tried to approach them at lunch, and Emmet watched the whole scene play out. Gilligan had been chatting animatedly with Finn, but when he saw Eric approaching, his demeanor shifted – his eyes narrowed, his smile curved into a frown, and he shifted his weight, leaning more on the table instead of holding himself up like he had before. He stood up to meet Eric, raising himself to his full height, and Eric stopped, took a step back, and pretended he had been walking past their table all along.

Gilligan sat down and started talking to Finn again, his body language more reserved, and as Emmet watched – along with most of the cafeteria – he took off his glasses and slipped on a pair of sunglasses.

Emmet decided that they were not going to make friends with either of them.

But that was okay. Emmet was doing fine with friends! Gail had sat next to them in class, and Emmet even got to sit with her and a few other people at lunch! It was great, even Gail had used "he" when introducing them and they had to correct her, and even if the others kept interrupting whenever Emmet tried to talk, and even if nobody looked at him. They were still making friends, and that was what mattered.

* * *

Even if none of them waited for them so they could all walk home together.

Emmet sighed, walking down the street alone, clutching the instructions they had forgotten to their chest. "It's fine," they said to themself, kicking a rock and watching it clatter down the sidewalk. "Everyone's just distracted by Finn and Gilligan today. Tomorrow will be better."

The sun was still high in the sky, but Emmet quickened their pace anyway. If they didn't get home soon, their mother would be worried.

Emmet winced at the thought, remembering their mother's words from that morning. _"You'll always be my son."_

Lost in thought, Emmet turned a corner and crashed right into someone going the other way.

The two of them fell over, Emmet landing hard on their side. "Ow!"

The person on top of them swore and pushed off them. Emmet only got a glimpse of their face – dark skin, freckles, two streaks of color in their hair – and then they were gone, their footsteps pounding down the sidewalk, leaving Emmet lying there with an aching side, the papers of their instructions scattered around them.

"Ow," they said again.

They lay there for another moment, then sat themself upright and started collecting their scattered instructions. Once they had gathered them all up, they looked back at where the person had gone, but saw nobody. A gust of wind blew and Emmet shivered, remembering that they should be heading home.

Something glinted on the ground, catching their eye. A red USB drive? Emmet picked it up, turning it over in their hand.

"Huh," they said. It definitely wasn't theirs. "Did it belong to that person? Should I try to find them and give it back?"

Emmet glanced behind them again, but there was still nobody there. They were probably never going to see the owner of the USB drive again. They shrugged and pocketed it. Maybe they would be able to find some sort of identification if they checked the files on it when they got home.

* * *

Wyldstyle hoisted herself over the fence, breathing hard. There was a stitch in her side, and she still hurt from when she had crashed into that kid earlier. Whatever, it didn't matter now – she checked behind her, listening carefully for the sounds of anyone that might have followed her, and when she heard nothing, she relaxed, sticking her hands in her pocket and –

She froze, feeling the inside of her hoodie's pocket. She took her hands out, patted the outside of the pocket, swept her gaze over the ground around her – the USB drive was _not there_.

"Oh, shit!"

There was no time to waste. Wyldstyle clambered back over the fence and ran out of the alleyway, retracing her steps back to where she had crashed into the kid.

* * *

Emmet was almost home when Wyldstyle caught up to them. They turned around when they heard her footsteps on the pavement behind them, their eyes lighting up when they recognized her. "Hey," said Emmet, "you're –"

"I'm none of your business, that's who I am," Wyldstyle snapped. "Did you take my disk drive?"

"Yeah, sorry! You dropped it, and I –"

"Give it to me!"

Emmet winced at her shout and reached in their pocket. "Okay, just let me –"

"Stop right there!"

The two of them jumped. Standing a few meters away, having just rounded the corner, was a police officer, a short woman with graying-red hair and glasses. What was concerning was the gun she clutched in both hands, pointed at the ground. Emmet immediately put their hands up. Wyldstyle stared at them in disbelief.

"What are you doing?" she hissed. "Don't just stand there!"

She grabbed their arm and pulled. Emmet stiffened, resisting Wyldstyle's attempts to drag them away.

"I don't even know you! I don't want to get shot!"

"I said _stop!_ " The officer had her gun pointed at them now, and Wyldstyle looked at her, looked at Emmet, swore, then let go of their arm and took off running.

The officer fired two shots after her. Emmet flinched, but forced themself to stand still. Wyldstyle ducked into an alleyway, and the police officer gritted her teeth and holstered her gun. Emmet stayed perfectly still, keeping their hands up as she walked towards them.

"You," she said, glaring at them. "You're coming with me."

* * *

"So, Finn, how was your first day at school?"

Finn shrugged. "It was okay."

Business frowned. "Just okay?"

"It's _school_ , Dad."

He shook his head. "Well, alright then. Kristin, how was your day?"

The girl swallowed a mouthful of food and said, "Awful. There weren't any other kids my age and all the teachers are weird. Why can't I go to a normal school like Finn 'n Gilligan?"

The four of them sat around the table – Finn, his father, his sister, and Gilligan, all eating dinner together. Business put his fork down and held his head in his hand. "Krissy, I've told you, this is for your own safety, alright?"

Krissy shook her head and brushed the strands of dark curly hair that had fallen in front of her face. "I'm almost twelve, Dad, I can take care of myself."

Business chuckled. She glared at him. "Don't laugh at me!"

"I'm not laughing! I'm just mildly amused."

Krissy slumped back in her chair. "You're so mean! I wish Gilligan's Ma and Pa were my parents instead of you."

That wiped the smile off Business' face. Gilligan shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

"Well!" Business said, his voice strained. "They're not, so I'm afraid you're going to have to put up with me."

She _hmph_ ed and started picking at her food again. Business sighed and glanced at his watch.

"I have to go," he said, standing up and picking up his plate. "I'll be back late, kids, so don't stay up for me."

Finn looked up from his food. "You're going out again?"

Business smiled and ruffled Finn's hair. "We're preparing for a very big event back at Octan Tower. Don't worry, after this Tuesday, we'll have all the time in the world together." He glanced at Krissy. "You too, Kristin."

She mumbled something unintelligible and stuffed more food in her mouth. Business shook his head. "Preteen drama. I shouldn't be offended. Well, I'm off. Say hi to your parents for me, Gil!"

With that, Business took his coat and his bag and headed out the door, leaving the kids alone.

A moment later, Gilligan's phone rang. He quickly dug it out of his pocket and flipped it open. "Hi, Ma, it's Gilligan. What do you need?"

Finn quietly finished his dinner, keeping one eye on Gilligan. "Yeah," Gilligan said. "Emmet Brickowski? We know _of_ them." A pause. "No, Ma, they're not, they had to correct someone at lunch, that's how we know."

"Who're you talking about?" Krissy said.

"Krissy, go to your room," said Finn.

She made a face at him. "I'm not done eating! You go to your room!"

"Hang on a second, Ma." Gilligan stood up and, with his free hand, gestured for Finn to follow him. Finn pushed his empty plate away and stood up.

"Alright, Krissy," he said. "We'll go to my room. You can clean up."

" _What!_ "

Gilligan and Finn quickly made their escape, with Krissy shouting, "You are all so _mean!_ " after them as they ran up the stairs and into Finn's room.

Sitting down on the bed, Gilligan readjusted his hold on the phone. "Okay, we're good now. What do you need to know about Emmet?"

Finn sat down next to him, looking out the window. Out this side of the house, he could see Octan Tower in the distance, where his father was heading right now for another long night of work.

After Tuesday, he told himself. His father kept saying that after Tuesday they would be able to spend time together. That was only a week away.

"Uh huh. Hang on again, Malcolm wants to talk."

Finn watched as Gilligan slipped off his glasses and took his sunglasses out of his shirt pocket. He carefully put them on with one hand, then leaned back on the bed, holding himself up, his expression serious.

"Hi, Ma," Malcolm said.

Finn had known Gilligan and Malcolm since they were very young, so it hadn't ever seemed strange that the two personalities shared a body. As he got older, it had been explained to him in more detail. They were an odd case, that was for certain, but they had never suffered much distress from sharing a body, and certainly not as much distress as the attempts to treat their condition caused, so their parents had decided to consider them as two separate people, to Gilligan and Malcolm's relief.

Watching him, Finn wasn't sure how they could have ever been considered one person. They didn't even look the same – Malcolm narrowed his eyes and almost never smiled, and he slouched and leaned on things, as opposed to Gilligan, who held himself upright and had wide eyes and a bright smile. Their voices were different, too, Malcolm's being deeper and gruffer than Gilligan's, who spoke with a cheerful lilt.

"Yeah, Ma," Malcolm was saying. "We didn't see anything suspicious about them, but we didn't pay much attention. There were a lot of things going on." He paused. "You say they're a suspected Master Builder?"

Finn straightened up, staring at Malcolm. Malcolm turned his head towards him just the slightest, then turned away.

"They were talking with a confirmed Master Builder. . . is there any history? We're not familiar with the Brickowski family. . . uh huh. No history. They might be innocent, but. . . "

Malcolm scowled. "We'll call the other students. They might have seen something we didn't. Sorry we can't help more, Ma. No, no, it's fine. Okay, we'll hang up now. Bye."

He flipped his phone closed, then said loudly, "You can stop breathing down my neck now, Finn."

Finn jerked his head back. "Sorry!"

"It's fine, we're just. . . " He sighed. "If Emmet really is a Master Builder, we might be in trouble. Your dad had our parents do background checks on all the students. If one of them slipped past. . . darn."

He took off his sunglasses and rubbed his eyes. "We'll start calling the other students. You don't have to watch, it's going to be really boring."

Finn looked down at his hands. "What if they're like me?"

"What do you mean?"

"Emmet. What if they're like me? I mean. . . I'm a Master Builder."

Malcolm looked at him sternly. "Don't think about that. You're not like the other Master Builders. You've had years to learn to keep your powers under control. The others? They haven't. They're dangerous. Remember that."

Finn sighed loudly.

"Hey." Malcolm patted him on the back, a little awkwardly. "Don't worry about it. You're fine."

"I know, I know. It's just weird to think about." Finn looked up and smiled at him. "Hey, I'm gonna stay in my room for a bit, if you want to make those calls on your own."

Malcolm nodded. "Yeah, we don't want to bother you. We'll be done in. . . an hour, maybe, depending on how many people we call."

"Okay."

Finn waited until Malcolm left the room, and then he stood up and locked the door.

He didn't have anything to be afraid of, he told himself as he slid the box out from under his bed. Malcolm said it himself. He had years to practice with his powers and learn to keep them under control. It wasn't bad that he used them without telling anyone.

Inside the box was a collection of hard plastic pieces, most in misshapen lumps. Finn picked one of them out, turned it over in his hand, and focused.

He was used to the second sense of touch by now. Finn pressed his fingers into the hard plastic and felt it shift beneath his touch. He rubbed his hands together, rolling the plastic into a ball, then started stretching pieces of it out, not creating anything in particular, just molding the shape into whatever he felt like.

When he was done, he had made what looked like a snowman with four spindly legs. Finn looked it over, then pressed his finger against its head and focused. When he took his finger away, there was a tiny, crude smiley face on it. Finn examined it for a moment longer, then crushed the whole thing beneath his hands and tossed it back in the box.

It wasn't like he was doing something bad, he thought, once the box was stored safely beneath his bed again. It wasn't like he was dangerous, not like the other Master Builders. Finn was different. That's what everyone told him.


	3. Episode 1, Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have not abandoned this fic! I am just bad at updating. sorry. I'll try to get back to an every-sunday update, starting not-tomorrow bc I can't write an entire chapter in a day. unless it's an april fools day chapter. that was fun.
> 
> what else to say? I don't know. here's the chapter

Emmet was terrified.

They sat in the back of the police car, the handcuffs heavy around their wrists, listening to the officer talk on her phone. She spent most of the ride to the police station talking to – to _GIlligan?_ She was his _mom?_ Emmet didn't know how to react to that. The sound of the two gunshots kept ringing in their ears, and Emmet couldn't help but wonder – if they had done something differently, would she have tried to shoot them, too?

"Hi, Malcolm," she said, and Emmet glanced up from their lap. So Gilligan's mysterious brother did exist after all. "You didn't see anything? Uh huh. Well, they're a suspected Master Builder."

"What's a –"

The officer glared at them. Emmet stayed quiet after that.

"They were caught talking with a girl we've confirmed as a Master Builder. . . no, there's no family history, but your Pa and I are going to double-check. Yeah. . . we can't take any chances. No, don't say that, you've done more than enough, I'm sorry for bothering you two like this. Alright, that's all I wanted to ask. Thanks, Malcolm, love you, bye."

She hung up and glanced back at Emmet, who pretended they hadn't been staring at her the entire time.

"You don't have to worry," she said, turning her attention back to the road. "If you're not a Master Builder, we'll just send you right back home."

"What if I am?"

"I don't know. Are you?"

Emmet tensed. "No, no!" they said quickly. "I just – I don't know what a Master Builder is! Maybe I am one and I just don't know it? Is that possible? I don't know! I don't know anything!"

The officer didn't respond. Emmet felt a sinking feeling in their gut, wondering if they had made a horrible mistake.

The car stopped at an unfamiliar building. Emmet peered nervously out the window. "This isn't the police station," they said.

The officer got out of the car and opened the door for them. "No," she said, "it's not. Come on, get out."

* * *

Emmet was _really_ terrified.

The officer escorted them to a sparse, dimly-lit room with only a table and two chairs, and took off their handcuffs only to tell them, "Empty your pockets."

There was nothing there except for the instructions Emmet had stuffed in there, some loose change, and the red USB drive they had picked up. The officer picked up and turned it over in her hand, frowning. "What's on this?"

"I don't know," Emmet said. "It belongs to that girl. She dropped it when we bumped into each other."

She nodded and pocketed it. "Is that everything?"

"Yes, Ma'am."

That earned a small smile from the officer, before her serious expression returned. "I'm going to need you to sit down here."

Moments later, they were handcuffed to the chair. The officer sat down across from them, and said, "How do you know that girl?"

This was an interrogation. There was a deep, black pit in Emmet's stomach, and their heart was pounding. "I don't. I don't! I don't know her at all!" Emmet's voice was pitched with fear. "We just bumped into each other!"

The officer frowned. "It's not good to lie, you know."

"I'm not lying, I swear!"

"Why was she talking to you, then?"

"Because she dropped the USB drive and I picked it up and she wanted it back and –"

The officer interrupted them. "So you're telling me you don't know this girl. That you've never met her before today."

Emmet shook their head. "No, never!"

"Really." She didn't believe them, they could tell by the way she narrowed her eyes. They swallowed hard, unable to meet her gaze.

"Jeez, Heidi, you're scaring the crud out of the poor kid!"

Emmet started and twisted around in their seat. They hadn't heard the man come in, but there he was, just closing the door behind him. He was tall, with a black mustache, and when he caught Emmet's eye, he smiled at them.

"Hey there, buddy," he said, kneeling down by their side. "Sorry about all this. I hear you're a suspected Master Builder?"

"Yeah, but I'm not! Really!"

"Of course, buddy, I believe you." The man ruffled their hair and spoke to the other officer – _Heidi_ , he had called her. "You don't suppose we could take those handcuffs off, do you?"

Heidi shook her head. "It's procedure," she said. "We can't risk having a Master Builder loose in the building, I shouldn't even have to tell you this, Brett."

"I just thought we could make an exception, that's all." He straightened up with a grunt. "We're going to step outside for a moment," he said to Emmet. "Just hang tight right here while we sort some things out."

Emmet nodded, and Heidi stood up and followed Brett outside, closing the door behind them.

Emmet could hear their voices from the next room, but try as they might, they couldn't make out what they were saying. Emmet sighed and leaned back in the chair. It looked like they were going to be here a while longer.

There was a _thunk_ from above, and Emmet looked up. They could hear muffled whispering coming from above, and their breath caught in their throat. They glanced back at the door. Would the officers even hear them if they said something?

Another _thunk_. Emmet looked back up to see a ceiling panel lifted up and moved away, and two figures quietly lowered themselves into the room. They recognized one as the girl who had gotten them into this mess, while the other person was, apparently, Batman, if Batman was a short, unusually pale teenager.

The girl put a finger to her lips, and she and Batman quietly moved to either side of them. She yanked on their handcuffs and swore. "Kragled," she whispered to Batman, who nodded.

"Uh," Emmet said.

"Quiet! We're getting you out of here!"

Emmet looked back at the door again, biting their lip, but lowered their voice. "I'm gonna be in more trouble if they catch you here! They'll let me go in a little while, just –"

"Oh, come on," said Batman. The girl shut him up with a glare.

"Don't you understand?" she said. "They think you're a Master Builder. If we don't bust you out? You're never leaving here. Hold still."

While Emmet was stunned into silence, she pressed her hand to the arm of the chair, and it _melted away_ – the material flowing around the handcuffs until they were freed. On their other side, Batman did the same.

Emmet squeaked in fear.

"Wyldstyle, we need to get out of here," Batman said sharply.

"Right, right. Where's the drive?"

"What?" said Emmet.

"The disk drive. The one I never got back from you!"

"...the officer took it from me."

Wyldstyle gritted her teeth. "Damn!" she hissed. "Babe –"

"I'll get it," Batman said.

"Great. Don't die."

In the split second it took for Emmet to look away from Wyldstyle, Batman had vanished, seemingly into thin air. They stared at where he had been for a moment, until Wyldstyle yanked them to their feet and starting pulling them towards the other end of the room, where there was nothing but a blank wall.

"Uh, I don't think –"

"Would it kill you to shut up for a while?" Wyldstyle pressed her hand to the wall and the concrete shifted, contracted, crumbling as a section of it was warped and changed into an ordinary wooden door. Emmet gaped at it as she took her hand away and pulled it open.

The hinges let out a loud creak.

"Oh fuck," Wyldstyle said.

The two officers burst in with their guns drawn. Heidi took one look at the empty room and the newly-created door and pulled out her radio. "Alert! We have one or more Master Builders on the loose! We need them apprehended at all costs!"

* * *

The other side of the door led to an empty hallway. Wyldstyle paused for a moment, keeping a hand on the doorknob, and then pulled Emmet along with her as she ran towards the door at the far end.

"That door won't hold for long," she said. "Come on! Keep running!"

"How did you – how did you –"

"Magic, okay? Don't question it! Just run!"

There was a loud crash from behind the door they had just gone through. Wyldstyle stopped just before they reached the end of the hall, put her free hand to the wall, dug her fingers in, and ripped out a chunk of concrete. The matter writhed and wobbled until it condensed into a bizarre-looking pistol, which Wyldstyle pressed into Emmet's hand. They stared at it numbly.

"What –"

"Just point and shoot, it's not that hard!" Wyldstyle created another pistol for herself with another piece of concrete and let go of Emmet's hand to open the next door.

Emmet took a step back.

Wyldstyle glanced back at them. "You can't stay here, you know," she said. "If the Super Secret Police capture you again, they're not going to let you go. So you've got a choice; stay here, or come with me if you want to _not die_."

Another crash sounded, this one accompanied by a sharp crack. Emmet flinched. "I want to not die!" they said.

"Good choice. Let's go!"

The next room was filled with robots.

Emmet had seen the Octan robots before, but only at a distance, and never this many in one place. In the moment it took for the robots to react, Wyldstyle aimed her pistol and fired laser after red laser, melting holes in their metal skulls.

"You made _laser guns?_ " Emmet cried.

"Yeah! So what? Focus!"

Wyldstyle ripped up a chunk of the floor to create a wall blocking the robots' returning laser fire. Emmet crouched behind it, clutching their gun to their chest and trembling.

"What do I do?" they said, their voice barely audible over the commotion.

"Stay there and shoot any robot that gets too close," Wyldstyle said. "I'll take care of these guys."

With that, she darted out from behind the wall. Emmet peeked out to watch her, but when a laser from one of the robots nearly grazed their head they ducked back into safety, too rattled by the experience to risk looking again.

They huddled there for what seemed like forever, as the sound of gunfire mixed with the crash of metal and the robots' shouts. Every time they thought it was over, they heard another robot shout, another burst of gunfire, and someone was banging on the door they had just came through, and Emmet just wanted to go _home_ –

"Hey! This way!"

Emmet started and poked their head out from behind the wall. "Is it safe?" they said hesitantly.

Wyldstyle stood there in the midst of scattered robot parts, still holding her gun. The smell of scorched metal filled the air – Emmet hadn't even known scorched metal had a smell. "Not for long," she said. "This way!"

Emmet stood up and ran after her to the next door.

The next room looked like a lobby, and as Wyldstyle made swift work of the two robots at the desk, Emmet stared past her at the door to the outside.

"The exit!" they cried. "Let's –"

"Hang on," Wyldstyle said. "We're still waiting for Bruce."

"Bruce? Who's –" Emmet suddenly remembered the person dressed up as Batman. "Oh, you mean –"

"He's not actually Batman, you know."

Emmet laughed nervously. "Well, yeah, I figured, since Batman is kind of fictional and not a real person and –"

Emmet saw the light from the laser first, the gunshot sounding the moment after. They yelped, but the shot went high above their head, striking the ceiling. Wyldstyle tensed, but before she could react –

"Don't move!" Heidi shouted, both she and Brett aiming their guns at them. Emmet put their hands up again, but this time, they had a sickening feeling that they wouldn't get out of this unharmed.

But Wyldstyle didn't seem bothered.

"Oh, come on," she said. "You wouldn't shoot two frightened children, would you?"

The officers winced, and in that moment

Not-Batman slammed into them from above, the broken pieces of the ceiling panel he had crashed through falling to the floor beside them. In an instant, Wyldstyle grabbed Emmet's hand, pulling them towards the exit. "Come on, Babe!" she shouted, and there was an affirmative grunt from behind.

Then they were outside, still running, and a car came out of nowhere, screeching to a stop in front of them. Wyldstyle didn't wait for Emmet to get in themself, just opened the door and shoved them in before she climbed in after them. Emmet lay on their back, staring up at the car ceiling as whoever was driving slammed on the gas.

"Hold on tight!" The person in front said.

"Where's Batman?" Emmet said. "Can I go home now?"

Wyldstyle laughed. "His name is Bruce, you know," she said.

"Nah," said Batman from the passenger's seat. "You can call me Batman if you want."

"You didn't answer my other question."

The other two's silence was all they needed to hear.

* * *

Heidi and Brett stood at the entrance to the building, Heidi barking orders into her radio. When she got an response from the other end, she sighed and looked up at Brett.

"Well, we can say goodbye to our peaceful countryside retirement plan," she said. Brett just shook his head.


	4. Episode 1, Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello hello hello this chapter is a little bit late and also a little shorter than usual but I had to iron out some plot stuff before we could move on to the next episode. here we go!
> 
> uhh take heed of the new warnings. mainly the one that says "major character death." we're diving headlong into darker-than-canon territory here, sorry fellas.

Business was not happy when he heard the report from the robots. A suspected Master Builder in Finn's school. A Super Secret Police base trashed. A disk drive of unknown significance. And it was only a week until Taco Tuesday.

He paced his relic room, gritting his teeth. Wind blew in from the broken window where he had thrown one of the robots out, and he made a mental note to get one of the construction bots to repair it. Or maybe he would wait until after his meeting with the two Cop partners.

Brett and Heidi had been working for him ever since Kristin was a baby, but their work had been _subpar_ lately, and letting a suspected Master Builder get away from them was the last straw. They were _clearly_ not taking their job seriously.

Business took a deep breath. Yes, perhaps they needed to be reminded of the consequences of failure.

"Computer!" he said out loud.

"Yes, sir."

"Call Heidi and Brett Cop into my office, and prepare the TAKOS for a demonstration."

"Of course, Lord Business."

Business smiled bitterly. He stopped pacing at his desk, his gaze falling onto a framed photograph. He picked it up and ran his fingers over the glass, looking at the two smiling faces – Finn and Krissy, taken just this summer.

Finn was smiling grudgingly, Business remembered. He hadn't wanted to wear the suit for the photo, but Business was insistent that they look formal. Krissy had complained too, but you could hardly tell what with the beaming smile she had on her face. Business found himself smiling, too.

"Just wait until Tuesday," he whispered. "We'll have all the time in the world, then."

* * *

Once the car had slowed to a more reasonable driving speed, Emmet lifted their head up. Immediately, they lay back down again, because outside the windows was a swirling mess of color and patterns that they couldn't make any sense of. They closed their eyes tight, desperately hoping that this was all some sort of dream, because this couldn't possibly be reality.

When they opened their eyes again, the outside hadn't changed, and Wyldstyle was looking down at them with a frown. "Are you alright?" she said.

"No," said Emmet. "First I was arrested, then I was almost shot, like, twice, I still have handcuffs on, and now we're in wacky rainbow cuckooland and I have no idea what's going on."

"You got the cuckoo part right," Batman – _Bruce_ – said from up front. "At least, that's where we're going."

"You mean wacky rainbow cuckooland is a _real place?_ "

"No," said Wyldstyle. "No. We're just... between worlds, that's all. Don't worry, we'll get the handcuffs off when we get to where we're going."

"...I want to go home."

"Wyldstyle," said an unfamiliar voice from the driver's seat. "Please tell me you didn't just pick some kid off the street."

"No, Vitruvius, I just –" She groaned and leaned back in her seat, staring up at the ceiling. "Okay, so that's sort of what happened, but come on! The Super Secret Police got them, they were going to be sent to the Think Tank or killed or worse, and it was kind of my fault so it's not like I could've left them there."

"I understand. Still, it's your duty to make sure they understand what's going on, now that they're involved with us."

Emmet sat up. "I don't want to be involved with anyone," they whined. "I want to go _home_. Who are you people, anyway?"

"Well, that's easy enough," Wyldstyle said. "I'm Wyldstyle, the guy up there driving is Vitruvius, and you already know Bruce. We're Master Builders."

Wyldstyle was sitting beside them in the backseat, and, in a shocking disregard to her own safety, was not wearing her seatbelt. Emmet wondered if they shouldn't wear their seatbelt either, which turned out to be a moot point when checking behind them revealed that the back seat didn't have any seatbelts to speak of. Not that they could put one on even if it did have any, what with the handcuffs restricting their movement.

They eyed the driver nervously. Vitruvius was a person with dark skin and long white hair, and Emmet couldn't see his face, due to the car missing a rear view mirror. Batman – _Bruce_ – looked back and grinned at them, still wearing his mask.

"How're you doing, kid?" he said.

"I have absolutely no idea what's going on," Emmet said. "What are Master Builders? Why was I arrested? Where are we? Why is this car missing so many things?"

Wyldstyle sighed. "Okay, let's start from the beginning. Make sure you're listening.

* * *

"Your world is one of many alternate worlds," Wyldstyle began. "There's the Old West, Pirate's Cove, Middle Zealand, a bunch of others nobody really cares about, and then there's Bricksburg – your world. And in all of them, there were Master Builders, people with the ability to manipulate reality, creating things from their imaginations and traveling between the different worlds. Like this."

Wyldstyle pressed her hand to the car seat and when she lifted it up, a thin line of matter followed her hand. Emmet watched with wide eyes. "Manipulating matter is one of the easiest things a Master Builder can do," she said. "But it's not the only thing. I know you saw it while we were getting you out of there, but here, look –"

She gripped the matter tight. It wobbled, shifted, and when she opened her hand, a simple pen was there. "See? Whatever I imagine, I can build. That's why we're called Master Builders.

"Once, all the Master Builders of the different worlds were able to mingle and share ideas with each other, but things changed when we discovered Bricksburg.

"Bricksburg was an isolated world. Lord Business, or as you know him, President Business, had just come into power. He didn't know anything about other worlds – he didn't even know they existed. When the leaders of the other worlds discovered Bricksburg, they reached out to him and asked him to join his world to the other worlds out there.

"Lord Business was horrified. He had spent a very long time making sure he had an iron rule over Bricksburg, making sure it was absolutely perfect – so when he found out about other worlds, he thought that they would interfere and contaminate his perfect world, and he reacted violently.

"Business sent out his robot army into as many worlds as he could, taking them over for his own. When he realized just how many other worlds there were, he cut off the ones under his control from the others, isolating them. As for Master Builders, Lord Business knew they were the biggest threat to him. He hired his own personal police force to capture them and lock them up in a prison called the Think Tank. The rest of us had to go into hiding to survive.

"But it wasn't over. Lord Business got his hands on a super-powerful weapon called the Kragle, that prevents matter from being changed. It's what he used on your handcuffs, which is why we can't get them off. He's been planning for years to use the Kragle on everything in every world, so that no Master Builder could use their power ever again, and we have word that his preparations are complete and he'll be unleashing it on the universe any day now.

"Wait," Emmet said. "Are you sure about this? I mean, President Business is such a good guy! Why would he want to take over the universe?"

Wyldstyle rolled her eyes. "Power, maybe? Don't know, don't care, but we've gotta stop him."

"But – but –" Emmet shook their head. "I don't understand! Evil overlord type people are supposed to be... not good guys! President Business is a strong, fair president who will keep everything in order!"

"Are you, like, quoting his presidential speech."

"And Octan makes great stuff! Music, dairy products, coffee, tv shows, surveillance systems, all history books, voting machines..."

They paused. "Wait."

The whole car was staring at them now. Emmet felt the heat rise to their face.

"Are you serious," Bruce said. "Maybe we should've left them back with the cops."

"No," Wyldstyle said firmly. "Okay, Emmet, just trust us: Lord Business is the bad guy here. Anyway!

"We can't allow Lord Business to use the Kragle. If he uses it, then he'll have the power to take over as many worlds as he want. And the only thing that can stop him is this."

Wyldstyle held up the red USB drive. Emmet stared at it.

"What's on that?" they said.

"Information," said Wyldstyle.

"Uh-huh. What kind of information?"

She hesitated. "Vitruvius –"

"We don't know," Vitruvius said, turning around in his seat. Emmet's heart skipped a beat when they saw his clouded eyes. "From what I was told, it's information that will tear down all of Lord Business' plans, but I wasn't told exactly what it was."

"Okay," Wyldstyle said. "Great. So basically, we're going to Cloud Cuckooland to find out what's on this thing, and then... we win. Probably."

"This is changing the subject," Emmet said, "but, uh, Mister Vitruvius?"

"Just Vitruvius is fine," he said cheerily.

"Can you, uh... see?"

"Nope!"

"Oh," said Emmet. "Oh. Uh. You're driving. And you can't see. I'm really kind of worried and afraid right now."

Vitruvius and Bruce both laughed, and even Wyldstyle cracked a smile. "Don't worry about it," she said. "You'll be fine. Once we've saved the universe, we'll send you right back home, okay?"

"Okay," Emmet said. "That's... good."

They leaned back against the seat and watched the swirling colors go by out the window. Yes, home sounded very good right now.

* * *

Malcolm hung up the phone. Calling the other students had revealed nothing new about Emmet, other than that they were an easily forgettable kid. Only Gail remembered them without being prompted. He wished he could have found out something more for his parents, but there was nothing he and Gilligan could do now.

He could feel Gilligan at the back of their mind, staying quiet. He had done most of the talking, but had let Malcolm take over again once they were done. He was acting a little strange ever since Ma had called them, and Malcolm wasn't sure why.

_Emmet's a good kid,_ Gilligan said. _I feel so bad for them._

Malcolm was more worried about their parents. President Business wasn't going to be happy with them for letting a Master Builder into the same school as Finn.

_They might be innocent._

They just as easily might not be. Malcolm shook his head. "It doesn't matter," he said out loud. "This doesn't involve us."

Gilligan didn't say anything more, just retreated back into their mind. Malcolm sighed and rubbed his forehead.

The phone rang again. "I'll get it!" Finn called from his room, and Malcolm heard his footsteps running to the upstairs phone. It was probably his dad or one of the Octan robots, anyway. Those were the only ones who ever called the house phone.

A moment later, Malcolm's own cellphone rang. He quickly checked the caller id; Ma again. He was getting tired of phone calls, but he answered anyway. "Hey, Ma, it's –"

"Malcolm," his Ma said, her voice rushed. "I need you to listen to me."

"Ma?" Gilligan was alert in the back of their mind now, listening to the conversation. "What's happening?"

"Listen!" Ma almost shouted the word; Malcolm heard her pause for a breath before she continued again. "You're about to get a call telling you, Finn, and Krissy to come to Octan Tower. Don't go to Octan Tower."

Something was wrong. Something was horribly wrong. Malcolm swallowed hard. "All of us?" he said.

"No. Finn and Krissy will be safe. Not you. Malcolm –" She took another deep breath. "Malcolm, Gilligan, please remember that your father and I love you both very much. Please stay safe. And if things go wrong – if you do go to Octan Tower..."

There was a loud _thunk_ from upstairs. "Finn?" he heard Krissy say. "What happened?"

"Be good," she said forcefully. "If everything goes wrong, just be good. I love you. Goodbye."

She hung up.

Gilligan was pushing for control, and Malcolm could feel the worry and fear coming off him in waves. He wordlessly halted him; their Ma needed them to stay calm, and Gilligan was prone to acting on his emotions.

"Finn! I said, what happened?"

Krissy. Finn. Malcolm rushed upstairs to see Finn kneeling on the ground, the phone lying beside him, holding his head in his hands. Krissy stood a few feet away, confusion written all over her face. "Finn," he said. "What happened?"

It took Finn a moment to respond. "My dad is dead," he said in a shaky voice, not looking at him. "And your Ma killed him."

**END OF EPISODE 1**


	5. Episode 2, Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm really bad at this updating-every-sunday business. sorry! I think it's best to assume that chapters will be finished when I finish them at this point.
> 
> uhhh what to warn for in this chapter. parental abandonment? that's kind of it. if I missed something that I should've warned for please tell me and I'll make a note to warn for that sort of thing in the future.

"Be good," his mother told them before getting in her car and driving away. She never came back.

* * *

Being good meant smiling for the adults and being friendly when they were watching, never reacting when the other kids were mean to them. Being good meant staying quiet and only speaking when they were spoken to. Being good meant keeping to themselves and never crying where anyone could see.

If that was being good, then that meant that his other self was bad, right?

His other self never smiled. His other self didn't play nice with the other kids. His other self kept to himself, went away from all the others and spent entire nights curled up in a dark places where nobody could find them.

You scared us, the adults say when they come back. Don't do that. Be good.

Smile for the adults and push your bad self into a dark corner of your mind where nobody can find him. Be good.

Smile when the other kids tell you you'll never find a home. Didn't your mother abandon you? See, nobody wants you. Be good.

Smile and respond politely when the people calling themselves Ma and Pa ask you about yourself. Be good.

Be good. Be good. Be good.

* * *

"What do you mean, Dad's dead?" Krissy said, her voice pitched high in distress. "That's not funny, Finn!"

It felt like he was dreaming, like Malcolm was in another world that happened to be layered over this one. He remembered Finn trying to explain how his Master Builder powers worked. Was this how it felt?

Malcolm picked up the phone Finn had dropped. Velma Staplebot, Business' secretary, informed him what happened in a cold, robotic voice. President Business had called Ma and Pa into his office for what he said was a meeting. During this meeting, Pa had been "incapacitated," and Ma had shot Business, killing him instantly.

"What happened to our – to Heidi?" Malcolm said, struggling to keep his voice level. It was hard, now that he was hearing Krissy's sobs as she began to realize that Finn wasn't playing a cruel joke.

Missing, most likely dead. After killing Business, the feed from the security cameras showed her using a relic to cut a hole to another world –

"She did – could you explain that to me? What's a relic? What are other worlds?"

The robot went quiet for a moment and asked to speak to Finn again.

Finn was still in the same position Malcolm had found him in, kneeling on the floor with his head in his hands. Krissy crouched beside him, covering her face and sobbing. "Finn's not in a good state right now," he said.

It didn't matter what Malcolm said, the robot refused to tell him any more. Finally, he shook his head and looked at Finn. "They want to talk to you," he said. "They're not telling me anything."

"I don't _want_ –" Finn choked on a half-sob. "I don't want to talk to them."

"Finn..."

"Tell them I won't!"

Malcolm kept his eyes on him for a moment longer, then looked away. "He doesn't want to talk to you," he said.

What the robot said next made his blood run cold. He took the phone away from his head and turned to Finn again. "Finn, you need to talk to them. They think I've done something to you."

Finn jerked his head up to stare at him with wide, frightened eyes. "What? But – but –"

"They need to know you're okay. Finn, please." His voice shook a little bit with the last words, trying to keep all his emotions in. Business was dead. His Ma had killed him. And his Pa was – was _incapacitated_ , whatever that meant. He felt Gilligan's distress mixing with his own, and his Ma's final words to him echoed in his mind: _Be good._

Slowly, Finn got to his feet and took the phone from Malcolm. "I'm here," he said, his voice trembling.

While Finn talked to the robot, Malcolm went and crouched down at Krissy's side. She shook her head violently. "No!" she cried. "Stay away!"

"Okay," he said, and stood back up. After a moment's pause, because it seemed wrong to leave it at that, he said, "I'm sorry." The only response from Krissy was another sob.

There was a _click_ as Finn hung up the phone. He wiped his eyes, took a deep breath, and turned to Malcolm. "They're sending a car over to bring us to the tower," he said. His mouth was pressed into a hard line and his hands were balled into fists. "I'm supposed to – I'm supposed to –"

Tears welled up in his eyes, and he closed them and took another deep breath. "I'm supposed to take over for my dad now," he said.

Too many things were happening at once, and it was too much for Malcolm to handle. "You're just a kid," he said numbly.

Finn just nodded. "Malcolm, I –" He wiped his face on his sleeve, and there was snot smeared across his upper lip when he looked up again. "I can't do this," he whispered. "I can't do this."

Malcolm took a step towards him.

_Don't go to Octan Tower,_ his Ma told him. _Be good._

"We'll come with you," he said. "You don't have to do it alone."

* * *

Emmet must have fallen asleep, because the next thing they knew Wyldstyle was waving her hand in front of their face. "Hey, Emmet? We're here."

They blinked and reached up to rub their eyes only to be stopped by their handcuffs. To their dismay, the events of the past day hadn't been a dream, and they were still in the car with the Master Builders. The car had stopped, and Emmet followed Wyldstyle as she got out, looking around the new landscape.

They could still see the swirling colors that they had seen while they were between worlds, but it seemed farther away now, patterning the sky above them. The land itself consisted of puffy white material, that looked to be clouds but was solid underneath their feet, towering high above them.

Vitruvius had gotten out of the car at this point, and Emmet could get a better look at him now. Despite his hair and long gray beard, he didn't look to be _that_ old. He wore a long white robe, with a tie-dye shirt and jeans underneath, and he held a staff with a large green gem on the end.

Emmet followed Vitruvius and the others to a flat wall of clouds. Looking around them, they swallowed and spoke up.

"Is this, uh, Cloud Cuckooland? I mean, there's definitely a lot of clouds, but..."

"Right in here," Vitruvius said, gesturing to the blank wall. "I just have to give the secret knock."

Twirling his staff around, he thunked it hard against the wall, once.

After a moment had passed, the wall opened, and a bright light shone out. Emmet squinted and raised their hands to cover their eyes, taking a step back, but Wyldstyle and the others were going in, and there was nothing they could do but follow them.

Emmet didn't know what they expected when they walked into Cloud Cuckooland. All around them were weird, colorful structures of all shapes and sizes, some of them with pulsing lights that made their head hurt. The whole place was crowded with all sorts of bizarre people, none of which paid Emmet and the rest any mind.

"Okay," they said, slowly turning around to take in the sights. "I have no idea what's going on here, or, uh, what this place is, at all."

" _Hi-ii!_ "

The person appeared out of nowhere, bounding to Vitruvius and clapping their hands. They were short – Emmet wasn't that tall, but they were even shorter than them – and they had bright pink hair worn in short pigtails. They looked very young, younger than Emmet, even, and as their eyes fell on them, they grinned broadly. "It's so good to see you, Vitruvius! And you brought a new friend!"

"Same to you, Kitty," Vitruvius said, smiling behind his beard. "You already know Bruce and Wyldstyle, then?"

"Yep! Don't know this kid, though!" The person – Kitty – skipped up to Emmet and smiled up at them. "What's your name?"

"Uh – Emmet, Emmet Brickowski."

"Great! And your pronouns?"

Emmet was caught off guard by the question – the only other time they had been asked for their pronouns was in last school year's GSA. It took them a few moments to answer. "Uh, um, singular they?"

"Really? Me too! My name is Princess Kitty, and I welcome you to Cloud Cuckooland!"

Kitty put a hand on their shoulder and gestured around them, still grinning. Emmet found themself smiling too, if only because Kitty's grin was contagious.

Kitty's gaze fell on their handcuffs. "Oh, were you arrested? Are you a Master Builder, or just some poor soul who was mistaken for one?"

"I'm, uh, not a Master Builder, I just... got arrested."

They sighed. "Happens all the time. Well, good thing my friends rescued you! Come with me, we'll get those things off of you."

Emmet cast a nervous glance towards Wyldstyle and Vitruvius – Bruce was nowhere to be seen. Vitruvius nodded. "Don't worry, you'll be fine," he said.

Kitty giggled. "Really, it's alright!" they said, leading Emmet away. "Cloud Cuckooland is a safe haven for Master Builders and everyone else hiding from Lord Business' forces. You're safe here! Alright, we're going to go through this door..."

* * *

They had to saw the handcuffs off. Emmet panicked when they saw Kitty pick up the hacksaw, and it took a great deal of willpower not to bolt out of there. "I'll be careful," they said. "I've had to do this many, many times before, so don't worry! It'll be over before you know it!"

Then they set to work. After a few minutes passed, Emmet keeping their hand as still as possible, they cleared their throat and said, "What exactly is, uh, this place?"

"Cloud Cuckooland," Kitty said matter-of-factly. "An alternate world created by Master Builders to hide from Lord Business."

"An alternate world – what do you mean, created by Master Builders?"

"Exactly what I said!" They grinned. "About fifteen years ago, myself and a handful of other Master Builders came together and used our power to carve out a world out of the infinite abyss of nothingness. It was the most astounding experience of my life – and I've lived a long time!"

Emmet mentally adjusted their assumption of Kitty's age to "way older than they looked." "You can do that? You can... create worlds?"

"It's very difficult, I'll say that much. But yeah!"

Kitty finished sawing through the first cuff and began the other wrist. "I know it's a lot to take in all at once," they said. "I always suspected that magic was real, even after I was supposed to grow out of those thoughts, so it was easier for me. But you're older, and you're from Bricksburg – Lord Business has done a very good job at hiding the truth there. Don't be ashamed if you have to ask a lot of questions, or if it takes you a long time to comprehend things."

"Okay..."

Emmet didn't speak up again until after Kitty was finished with their handcuffs, tossing them aside without even looking where they landed. "I'll get someone to deal with those later," Kitty said. "I've got some very important things to discuss with Vitruvius, so you hang out with Wyldstyle and Bruce, wherever he went off to."

"Okay," Emmet said again, rubbing their bare wrists as they followed Kitty outside.

Wyldstyle was leaning against the wall of the building Emmet and Kitty came out of, her hands stuffed in her pockets. "Hey," she said, after giving Emmet a moment's glance.

"Hi," Emmet said. "Where's, uh, Vitruvius and –"

"Vitruvius is in the Dog," Wyldstyle replied without looking at them. "Bruce is... somewhere. He has friends here."

"Okay!" Kitty said brightly. "Does Vitruvius have the drive? Great," they said when Wyldstyle nodded, "I'll go up and meet him! Bye, kids!"

Wyldstyle winced. Kitty didn't seem to notice, and they twirled around and bounded up the street to a large, domed building in the distance – it had a dog's face on it, Emmet realized. And ears. That must be what they meant when they said the Dog. Then they were left alone with Wyldstyle.

The two of them stood there in silence for a while, Emmet finding it difficult to look at Wyldstyle. They kept sneaking glances at her, quickly looking away before she could notice. She didn't look at them, just stared off into the distance with a frown on her face. Emmet looked down and shifted their feet nervously.

The next time they looked at her, Wyldstyle was looking straight at them. Emmet squeaked in surprise and looked away quickly.

"It's fine," she said. "I know this is a little weird for you."

"A _little_ weird – it's, uh..." Emmet didn't know how to continue. "It's really weird," they finished.

"Kitty kind of gives that impression."

"Well, no, it's all of this, too!" Emmet gestured around themself. "I was just walking home from school, and then I bump into you and everything goes... everything! I don't like it!"

"This isn't exactly sunshine and roses for me, either, you know."

Emmet shut up at once. "Sorry."

Wyldstyle sighed. "It's fine, it's fine."

They didn't speak up after that, though.

"What's going on over there?" Wyldstyle said suddenly, after their shared silence had continued for some time.

Emmet looked up and around to see what she was talking about. Off by where they had all come in, a small group of people had gathered, crowded around one spot. They couldn't hear them clearly from where they stood, but it looked like they were having a heated argument, and Emmet could hear their raised voices even if they couldn't hear what they were talking about.

"I'm gonna go check it out," Wyldstyle said.

"Maybe we should stay out of it," Emmet said, but Wyldstyle was already walking over, and against their better judgement, Emmet followed her.

Upon getting closer to the scene, Emmet realized that the people had surrounded a fallen figure, though it was hard to make out what they looked like what with all the crowding. "Hey, is that a person?" they said. "Are they hurt? Should we get help?"

Wyldstyle stopped suddenly. Emmet, who had been looking behind them in case Kitty and Vitruvius were coming back, almost bumped into her. "Whoa! What's –"

"What is she _doing_ here?!" Wyldstyle exclaimed.

Emmet peered around her back and gasped. The person on the ground, with blood all down one side, was unmistakeably Heidi – the police officer who had arrested them in the first place.


End file.
